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Kim and I both gained a little as a result of the wedding festivities (but also a general slackness we’ve had in the last few months) so starting this coming Monday we are going to reboot back to Phase 1 of the South Beach diet. I’m actually going to make it a little harder on myself this time and also quit drinking soda (even diet), and exercise way more than I did last time.

I’m going to set the goal of losing 20 pounds this time. I’ll weigh myself Monday morning and try to do a better job of staying on top of recording my progress this time around.

We couldn’t time it better, Giovanni’s 2nd birthday is tomorrow and I intend to blow it out and eat whatever I feel like.

Despite being the most filthy fucking place ever, I ate there fairly often. You know a restaurant is bad when, five years after college people deny having eaten there, or at least play down the frequency of their visits. Tom says he hates Little Steve’s (now), but when we were in college I received several phone calls urging me to meet him in front of Steve’s around lunch time. As Biz Markie might say,  Tom has “caught the vapors.” But he’s lucky he didn’t catch dysentery with all of those Steve’s Jumbo Slices he used to consume.

Simultaneously disgusting and delicious, it was, most importantly, cheap as hell (when I first started Berklee I think it was $1.50 a slice). For some reason the visual image of that nasty black mop they used (perhaps still use) to clean both the floors and the pizza oven still has no affect on my willingness to eat there. If I was in Boston right now I’d buy a $10 jumbo pie and eat it all by myself (assuming they are still $10 dollars, otherwise I’d pay more).

If Kim and I go visit Boston this summer, she will probably not even enter the building and, for once, I will applaud her germophobia as part of her natural instinct to survive and not a simple neurotic annoyance, but it won’t stop me from buying a few slices and plopping my ass down on the curb of Boylston Street and firing the starting pistol of my race against the Devil to the nearest public bathroom.

“They clean the oven with the same mop they clean the floors with,” they’d say.

“Bullshit,” I’d say. “they don’t clean the floors at Little Steves.”

Married.

So there’s a lot that has been going on and I’ve blogged almost none of it. To start, Kim and I got married this last weekend. The weather was great the company was exceptional and the cake was effing delicious. Maybe Kim thinks differently, but the wedding, for me, wasn’t so important. I wanted us to get married, I’m ecstatic for us to be married but whether or not we had a ceremony wasn’t a big deal. We’d originally planned to simply have a party with only our closest friends and family present but that grew slightly and we had a small ceremony in the garden at the Pagoda (where the reception was also held).

Even though Kim’s parents, sister, and my parents all pitched in for the wedding expenses, we still didn’t spend a whole lot. Some brides pay as much for their wedding gowns as we did for the whole day. I think we got a lot of value out of what was spent, too. It is completely possible to have an inexpensive wedding without being tacky or trashy. We accomplished it almost without trying. I’m proud of us.

Something that was really great about this wedding was that I was able to have some of my closest friends all in one place. I have always been the type to have friends in different circles and I was the one who’d move freely between them.  As a teenager, I was used to this practice, but it became less of an issue in college where everyone was basically aware of one another and, compared to a typical high school, Berklee isn’t really that cliquey. Still, this merging of different people with different ethnic, geographical, social and dietary (sic) backgrounds was one of the only sources of stress I had as the wedding date approached. I kept wondering if my Berklee friends were going to fit in with Kim’s family, if they would feel out of place and keep to themselves in a corner somewhere leaving me to float between Kim’s family, my family, my friends and the one or two strays that I hadn’t even met before. Honestly, if they had felt out of place I wouldn’t have been surprised or put off by it, the Kabuti can be completely overwhelming at first to non-Filipinos (and often to other Filipinos because they are so cliquey). They are completely insane and it can come off as endearing or totally over-the-top crazy and it might take several visits to really feel comfortable. I think it took me a few.

At any rate, this wasn’t an issue and everyone fit in perfectly.

Joe took a lot of fantastic pictures of us

Of course, I wasn’t worried about Joe. In the past few years, it has become a regular occurrence for Joe to make Kab Kid appearances, to the point where there isn’t even a fuss when he shows up. You know you are “in” when you walk into a Filipino household and no one tramples you with hospitality. Everyone says “hey Joe!” and gestures to the table of food and that’s that. None of the usual “you’re a stranger so we have to wait on you hand and foot so you feel comfortable” stuff. At this point, Joe is practically a Kab Kid himself (which would be amazing since he’d be the only white guy to join the club without having to “marry in”).

It was so amazing to see Tom and Tiff screaming and howling along to a game of LCR (which Joe won the second round of) and Brett throwing up the metal horns while he got his first tastes of pancit canton (he didn’t actually do that, but let’s pretend he did.. but he really did love the pancit). This visit combined with the last couple of visits Chris has made to Norfolk (though he was absent for the wedding due to his extreme gayness) kind of combined into one realization that a lot of my general unhappiness since graduating college has been due to feeling so distant from a number of people I used to see every day of my life. And here they are, fitting in perfectly with my this new insane mob of cousins, uncles, aunts and nephews. It’s nice to feel reassured that you’re making the right decisions every now and then, you know?

Marcie, Brett, Tom, Tiff, Kim and Me.

While I am on the topic: I have to say that Kim and I are blessed in that we get along really well with each other’s family. So few people have that luxury. I decided a long time ago that I would never involve myself with someone who’s parents I did not like, but sometimes you just can’t control those situations. But, all things being equal, I think marrying someone whose family sucks is a path to true misery and I’d advise against it completely. A note to dudes: It’s a typical male thing to put off the meeting of the parents for as long as possible, to avoid “getting serious.”  Really,  the “getting serious” could happen no matter how long you postpone meeting her family. You may as well meet the folks as early as you can and get the hell out of there if they turn out to be kooks. That’s my free advice to you.

Kim and I getting married was a testimony the last 5 years of our relationship, but the wedding itself was an expression of the near-arrogance we can’t help but feel when we see how many incredibly awesome people we know and attract without trying. People who’d never meet each other under normal circumstances are suddenly converging because of us. Cool.

Apparently comments haven’t been working on my posts. But apparently that doesn’t matter because no one thought to tell me until now. So, at first I thought “no one is leaving me comments, no one reads this blog” but really it’s “No one is telling me that they can’t leave comments, no one reads this blog.”

I’ve just recently been getting back into reading comics, since the opening of Local Heroes in Ghent and Frank Miller’s Ronin was something I had no previous knowledge of, despite being produced back in the 1980’s. It was just one of those “this looks good, I’ll buy it” moments. I’m really glad I bought it, and I am really getting into buying collected comic volumes as opposed to individual comic issues. It’s nice to have enough material in one book to read and then put down and then pick back up when ever its convenient. I don’t have desire to store and take care of new comics, and I really just care about reading the stories, so these collected volumes are the way to go.

The story for this book, when summarized, doesn’t really sound very good. Magic swords, demons, technological mega-complexes, telekinetic quadriplegics and feudal Japan don’t seem to be concepts that cohesively fit together for making a really plausible comic, but you’re just gonna have to go with me on this; it works… well. It works surprisingly well, in fact. The fantastic element presented in the beginning of the book does take a back seat throughout the story, which is satisfying. I always have hard to compromising between multi-genre collisions between science-fiction and fantasy. Ultimately this story falls into neither category, but requries elements of those genres to propell itself. The long and short of the story is that a the souls of a Ronin and a demon named Agat are trapped in a magical sword sometime in ancient Japan, the soul of the Ronin seeks out the host body of Billy, a quadriplegic with telekinetic powers who helps develop cybernetic limbs inside of a technological mega fortress, called Aquarius, located in post-apocalyptic New York City. With Billy as his host, he commands Virgo, to build him arms and legs and chage his appearance in order to fight the demon which can take the form of any living creature..

I told you it sounded nuts.

I promise you, it’s so good.

The art might seem quirky by todays standards, but its Frank Miller’s usual gritty style applied to a visually obsessive-compulsive mega future. The art is very 80’s in the sense that there is the feeling that technology is bristling from every corner of the page but its so vague and formless because the nature of the technology isn’t really important. Very different from today’s work where we feel the necessity to know what every bump on Batman’s utility belt does. There is a slight Japanese sci-fi influence, but not like one might expect from modern comics. Think more “Japanimation” and less “Anime.” While the buzzwords mean essentially the same thing, the generation gap between 1980’s and early 90’s fans of Japanese animation and Inuyasha is quite vast.

If you’ve read the comic, and I don’t want to spoil it for you if you have not (so stop reading at this point if thats the case), I wonder if anyone else seems to feel like the character of Billy represents comic book creators or artists as a whole. Armless, legless, impotent freaks without any power whatsoever in their real worlds, but gifted with vast mental power, imagination and the potential to change the world, and, at the center of this power the main motivation is sex. As always.

Once again I’m a year too late to something, but considering most of the music I “discover” is already 30 years old, I guess a year isn’t so bad. Actually, I was first advised to check out Dub Trio way back when I was home on break from college. A friend of a friend told me I’d like them “because you like dub, man” but when I was tipped to the fact that “Dub Trio” is kind of misnomer for fans of authentic dub reggae as they infuse various other styles– particularly hardcore punk– I turned my stupid purist nose up at the little smidgen of Dub Trio’s first album I heard and went about my business.

Not long ago, JSleeper saw the band at The Norva (opening for Clutch, I think) and claimed to have witnessed the most amazing bass distortion sound he’d ever heard, in addition to nutsack jiggling subwoofer bass tones. Additionally, my buddy, Tom, told me saw Dub Trio at a fairly decent sized venue in NYC and, while he didn’t necessarily love the music, it was the most uncomfortably loud show he’d ever been to. I don’t think he intended to get this response from me, but all I could say was “Wow, cool.” This is a guy who plays the drums for a living and grew up playing New York hardcore. When he says something is loud, I believe him. These are people who’s ears I respect, but, I still didn’t get investigative until later.

Since I have been recently prowling the world of boutique bass guitar amps looking for my next acquisition, I stumbled across a video featurette on Dub Trio’s bassist, Stu Brooks, on Aguilar Amplification’s website and totally loved what I heard and am now not only interested in Dub Trio but also the Aguilar AG500.

Seriously. I am hooked on this CD. This is the only album I’ve torrented and then immediately bought the next day.

At FYE, no less.

I like it that much.

Yeah, I still buy CDs.

While the band does pretty well down shifting from authentic dub to doomy stoner / hardcore metal with indie post-rock transitions and occasionally a moody shoegaze drone– the real amazing moments are when they kind of sound like they have a foot standing in each of their principle genres and mix the seemingly incongruous sounds together to create something new (hence the title of the album).

I don’t remember who said it, maybe Ashton Barrett, but I remember reading an interview where someone said Dub was the most revolutionary music ever created because it flipped the generally accepted notion that the bass was only to accompany the other instruments and stole the spotlight without changing the generally accepted idea of what bass sounds like. The basslines in dub music are not only not-flashy, but they are minimalistic, yet they are also the lead instrument. Not only is that a relatively easy musicial concept to grasp but its also an enticing philosophy for some punk kids to get behind (no wonder reggae was such a huge influence on Johnny Rotten and The Talking Heads). This kind of revolution is frequently happening in this band, even on the heaviest tracks: the bass is the lead instrument and the guitar is adding stabs of color and texture. Most times, what Dub Trio does is a far cry from King Tubby, but not always. I could easily expect to see this group do a full reggae set without difficulty, just because they felt like it.

I guess it’s not for everyone but I’m completely hooked.

Another Sound Is Dying on lala.com

Inspired by Davis

1. My earliest musical memories involve the Who at full volume. I think the Arp synthesizer sequences for “Baba O’Riley” and “Won’t Get Fooled Again” still raise my pulse when I hear them, no matter how often I hear them in car commercials and prime time crime dramas. However, my answer is Keith Moon’s drum solo followed by Roger Daltrey’s primal scream in Won’t Get Fooled Again. Fuck CSI Miami. Experience it for yourself.
2. Anesthesia / Pulling Teeth. I am almost embarrassed to say because it’s so uncool to say you like Metallica on the internet. Also, it is such a cliche for bassists my age to praise Cliff Burton, it’s kind of dorky but whatever. The long and short of it is that this solo changed my life and opened my ears to how fucking cool the electric bass is. Period. I could list a dozen other bass solos in this list, because so many of them are musical moments that I love, but I wouldn’t have come across any of them if it weren’t for this one.
3. I’m not a particularly huge Jimi Hendrix fan but I love The Band of Gypsies album and I love Buddy Miles’ rimshot crack at the very beginning of Power of Soul. The slight delay that follows and segues into Jimi melting everyone’s face with his guitar shredding always succeeds in stopping me in my tracks to jump out of my skin and shout “DAMN!”
4. I feel as though I need to submit something involving James Brown. The “ONE – two – three – four and back to the ONE” concept affected me greatly as a young musician and something I seek out in all forms music, but to narrow it down to one song (let alone a single moment) is difficult. There is a breakdown on the original cut of “Give it Up, Or Turn It Loose” where James calls Clyde Stubblefield out into a drum break and everyone stops playing, then he calls Bootsy Collins back in and the groove reconstructs itself from the ground up before the listeners’ eyes. I love that moment where James says “Bootsy” and you can instantly feel how important the bass is to that music, but I also love how this breakdown acts as a cross-section to the James Brown groove of the early 70’s.
5. To me music should always be about intensity of some sort. That doesn’t mean it has to be screaming speed metal. I like that stuff, but thats not a prerequisite. I like seeing musicians sweat, bleed and toil– working their asses off on stage to create a moment that will only exist for the people who bothered to show up. When I see an evangelical minister jumping around and shouting I find it pompous and insincere, but I have the exact opposite reaction when musicians do the same. Even if its music I am really not into, they get the benefit of the doubt from me if it looks like they want my attention bad enough. So I think my 5th musical moment would have to go to the time I saw the Mars Volta live at Axis in Boston. De-Loused in The Comatorium had only been out a short time, so they could get away with playing at Axis, which is a relatively small venue. The crowd was made up mainly of hardcore At The Drive In fans and some really intense music fans who’d caught onto the album early. I’d seen video of ATDI shows so I was aware of how crazy these guys could be, but still not prepared– they gave everything. Not only did they nail the music while they were trashing around and Salsa dancing on stage, coming damn close to breaking their necks on Axis’ small stage, but they never slowed down. Omar spun around and smashed his guitar’s neck into the mic stand, picked up the stand and did an old Pete Townshend move where you slide the strings against the metal mic stand. He paused to switch guitars and was then right back into the fray. They NEVER EVER SLOWED DOWN, by the end of the night the whole band looked like Rocky Balboa (minus the blood) refusing to go down. I went home feeling like I saw something no one else saw. My T Ride home was completely meditative, I felt drunk. I had my cell phone in my hands and I wanted to call someone and tell them about it but I couldn’t put it into words. I still can’t really. I saw them a second time (in D.C.) on the same tour and I expected something on the same level and it wasn’t happening, they were great but the crowd was different and they reacted to the crowd differently. I had gotten the show I was gonna get and it was enough.

This is a test post. Just making sure everything works.. enjoy one of my favorites from honor-student.com

Something tells me I should feel good about dodging this bullet if the HR department is this fucking confused about the hiring requirements.

I apologize for any confusion the previous emails may have caused.  I have confirmed with appropriate contact that the link provided below will bring you to the two screen questions you will need to complete regarding the IT Service Center Specialist position you applied to.

The requirements for this position have changes since you submitted your resume for consideration.  This position now requires the ability to speak Mandarin or Cantonese.

Oh, well I guess I’ll go get to work on that.

I saw this for sale, used, at FYE the other day and I was almost positive that I had seen it before, and almost positive that I wanted it, but I chickened out. Now that I watch the trailer I see that I made a huge, huge mistake.